SoundCloud is on its deathbed

The service allegedly has 50 days left to go, but Chance the Rapper hopes to save it

The death knell has been sounded for SoundCloud – hotbed of internet rap and hosting platform for bad podcasts. The home of the genre hashtag for genres that don’t exist. Apparently, the streaming service only has money enough to last until Q4, just 50 more days, as founders Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss reportedly told staff in a video conference.

The service recently laid off 173 employees and will close offices in San Francisco and London, announced July 6, in the hopes of “reducing our costs and continuing our revenue growth, we’re on our path to profitability and in control of SoundCloud’s independent future,” a statement read.

When asked about the 50 day timeline by The FADER, a spokesperson for SoundCloud responded: “There are a number of inaccuracies within the TechCrunch article. To clarify, SoundCloud is fully funded into the fourth quarter. We continue to be confident the changes made last week put us on our path to profitability and ensure SoundCloud’s long-term viability.”

Despite their attestations to the contrary, Chance the Rapper is hoping to save it, before it’s too late. “I’m working on the SoundCloud thing,” he tweeted. This makes sense, given Coloring Book was the top album on the service in 2016. If by that he means he plans on buying it out, he’ll have to fork over his entire fortune – the company is valued at $200 million. Chance also has a deal with Apple, so this could also mean he will politely ask, in his very Chance way, if Apple won’t just put up a bit of cash?

SoundCloud is more than just a platform. It’s a lifestyle. It’s the originator of vaporwave, cloud rap and phonk. SoundCloud is even a style. Recently, I interviewed Tyler, the Creator, and I asked him if he’d ever gone anywhere he felt he didn’t fit in, dress-wise. “Everywhere, I wore this exact different colour outfit yesterday to something and everybody’s in what you would think any SoundCloud rapper from 2017 would wear.” I asked what the SoundCloud rappers are wearing these days. “You know what they were wearing, man. Goyard bags, literally you could just Google it, they all look exactly the same and I’m not knocking them – do their thing, I’m just saying.”

It’s also an important discovery tool for finding new music, and a major proponent in the careers of Kehlani, Post Malone, Kygo, and Bryson Tiller. Once it’s gone, everything will reportedly be wiped from their servers. So that bumpin’ mix you uploaded is best saved somewhere else.

So what we will do without SoundCloud is anyone’s guess. Hopefully, Chance can beat the clock and ensure its relevancy for much longer to come. Now, please put your hands together and pray it doesn’t go the way of Hype Machine.

My thoughts are with the SoundCloud rappers and DJs who will have to break the news to their parents over the weekend